1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for age verification, and more particularly to a system and method for verifying the age of an Internet user to insure that the user seeking to gain access to an Internet application is at least of the age appropriate.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Children today have never known a world without the Internet. Children see their friends interacting and playing online and there is ever-increasing pressure on parents from their children to allow the children to be online. In numerous instances, children are not protected by media companies and are being placed in extreme danger posed by online predators. Until measures are taken to provide a secure online environment for younger age groups, the online safety of children is compromised.
Generally, parental control systems fall under one of two categories. First, active parental control systems prevent a child from accessing information that the parent does not want them to access. For example, active parental control systems include programs such as hardware and software firewalls as well as hardware access controls tools or systems that prevent certain types of data from being presented to a user. Second, passive parental control systems allow parents to audit information that their children have been accessing and activities that their children engaged in while they were online, on a computer system, or on a managed or unmanaged network. For example, passive parental control systems include systems that audit user access and activity information in managed and unmanaged networks and present this information to parents.
With the increased penetration of the Internet, parents are more interested in knowing what their children are doing when they use a computer, including the websites they visit and the individuals with whom they are communicating. While active and passive controls help parents manage and control some of this information, there are no provisions for parents to control the types of services their children may sign up for on the Internet. Sign-up is a common step with Internet based applications. The sign-up process allows users to register for services provided by Internet based applications.
Active and passive parental control systems do not provide any support for being able to communicate and enforce parental preferences when it comes to sign-up of services on web-based and Internet enabled desktop applications. Broad classifications, such as Entertainment Software Rating Board (“ESRB”) ratings, do not provide parents with the level of control they would like with respect to sign-up preferences for the children.
Using the Internet has become extremely easy, and one aspect of this ease is that children of very young ages are able to gain access to Internet websites of all kinds. Juxtaposed with this ease is the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which lays out specific guidelines for how website operators and online businesses must interact with children 13 year old and younger. In general, COPPA requires parental notification and consent prior to an online operator's collecting, using or disclosing a child's personal information. COPPA does make provisions for accounts for children under 13 with certain conditions, including parental consent, being imposed on the users. Compliance with COPPA can be daunting for an online business. While some online businesses are taking steps to comply with COPPA, many of the new media companies, including Facebook are choosing to avoid COPPA compliance by restricting their sites to over 13's and foregoing a significant business opportunity in interacting with the under 13 market segment. Moreover, it has become increasingly difficult to determine if a person is telling the truth when he or she enters their age or date of birth to gain access to a website. Thus, a system is needed that will enable an online service provider to accurately determine the age of a user before the user is allowed to actually enter and use the site.